Campaign Timeline
Overview All dates are measured in the Risenlands from the Breaking of the One and the creation of the five Philosophies of Shir, Orar, Nulr, Evix, and Kaen. The world existed before this point, but it was then in that cataclysm that the known continents rose from the oceans and life came to them and thrived. Scholars break this down into five ages, each dominated by a Philosophy. The Risenlands are currently in the Age of Nulr, the fifth age, and as yet it is yet uncertain which age will follow now that the cycle is complete. The current year is 6554 AN, the Age of Nulr. The Making Anum, The One, creates Eth from the Void Ostoria, the first land, is made to serve as the anvil of Anum's craft Age of Giants Anum creates the giants to serve him and gives them the land of Ostoria. The first Ash Giant, Jaerezhalun, rises to power in Ostoria, seizing the High Throne and dividing the giants into a civil war. The Breaking (The Age of Kaen) Jaerezhalun ignites the Chaos Heart in Ostoria in a bid to destroy his enemies and usurp Anum, shattering the god and fragmenting the massive super continent, creating the drift that seperates them all today. Shir, Orar, Nulr, Kaen, and Evix are created from the shattered primordial energies of Anum. The Breaking is an era of unchecked chaos and suffering, with the giants being laid low, as primal forces seek release and to dominate each other. Continents are altered, the seas boil, and life mutates as raw chaos buffets the world. Age of Shir A time of enlightenment, peace, and cooperation, with humans as mere children among the more spiritually and technologically advanced nations. The elves arrive from the Faewild. Age of Evix The age of war. Pain and suffering tears through the Risenlands and many races and others are laid low. Civilisations are destroyed and the cruel and the strong oppress the weak. Age of Orar Stability is restored to a wasted world. What remains of the ancient races rebuilds their homelands and attempts to regain their past glories.It is here that the world sees the birth of the first great human civilisation in the Maecithican Empire , and also it’s end as a terrible cataclysm rips through the lands, bringing a close to the Age of Order. Age of Nulr (The current age) '0 AN' *The birth of the age. 'General' *The emergence from the dark years that followed the cataclysm. Ancient nations, now a shadow of their former selves, recover and new ones are formed. '6012 AN' 'The Landorian Empire' *King Berethan Hannadrake of the Kingdom of Landor finally conquers the Coastal Princes of Navera, formally declaring the creation of the Landorian Empire and taking the title of Emperor Berethan of Landor. '6232 AN' 'The Landorian Empire' *The Harpers are established as an elite secret service by the Landorian Crown. '6252 AN' 'The Landorian Empire ' *The Grey College is established following the Lorian Conflict. Based in Glantry, the College declares itself independant of the crown, though loyal to the Landorian Empire '6434 AN' 'The Landorian Empire ' *The Navigator's Guild is founded in the Landorian city of Glantry as a split off from The Grey College. '6489 AN' 'The Landorian Empire' *The Landorian Civil War breaks out. Led by the arch mage Solmon Vex of the Grey College following attempted taxation and heavy control of magic and asscoiated trade by the Crown. The Red House swiftly joins the College, while the High Chancel declares for the royalists, drawing a clear line between the spiritual and the secular. Many see the war as a fight for the very soul of the Empire. '6529 AN' 'The Landorian Empire' *The settlers of the Holdings seceeds from the fractured warring Landorian Empire. The Free City of Greyhawk, with it's control over the Hope Pass, is named region's capitol. The Kingdom of Greyhawk is established. 'The Kingdom of Greyhawk' *The Kingdom of Greyhawk is established. *The Kingsdom of Greyhawk declares itself neutral in the Landorian Civil War. '6530 AN' 'The Kingdom of Greyhawk' *The rise of the Order of Elemental Power from within the depths of the Blackwood Fens. The surrounding towns quickly fall under it's control, bringing tyranny and slavery and suffering, and challenging the still weak authority of Greyhawk. Unable to divide it's forces between defending against attack from Landor to deal with this new threat, Greyhawk enlists freelance adventurers in the form of the Navigator's Guild to slow the expansion of the Elementalists and, ultimataly, force an end to the threat. '6531 AN' 'The Kingdom of Greyhawk ' *The Lost War breaks out as Iuz the Ancient, sensing weakness now that the Landorian settlers no longer had the support of the Crown and emboldened by the rise of the Elementalists, directs the Clans of Graelish to invade from the southern Icegrave. The North Holdings are taken, never to be regained by the Republic. *An alliance is struck between the Elementalists, the Graelish, and the Black Throne of Lolth, to seize and divide the entirety of the new Kingdom in the name of Evix. *The town of Nulb is named as the 'Holy Fane' by the Order of Elemental Power and, by extension, the heart of the evil of their expanding territories. *The Navigators Guild company known as the Silver Circle, led by the paladin of Shi, Vesavius Cairn, rises to prominence as they win a series of successes against the Elementalists, slowing down their expansion and forcing them to adopt a defensive posture. *The Harpers, recognising the threat to Landor from the alliance of evil, despite the efforts of freelancers such as the Silver Circle, send agents north to support Greyhawk, despite it's recent secession. '6532 AN' 'The Kingdom of Greyhawk ' *The Battle of Emridy Heath. After series of minor clashes as The Harpers and the Silver Circle continue to successfully unite the townships and powers of the Western and Eastern Holdings under the banner of the arch mage Mordenkainen. The Elementalist and Graelish forces are forced to take the field in a final battle. The cost is high and the heaths run red with the blood of all, but with the aid of the Circle the day is won in the name of light and law as the Elementalist army is destroyed and scattered, the goblinoids of the Graelish fleeing back to the north. *With victory on the field, Greyhawk forces press forward, taking Nulb and then assaulting the great temple of the Order itself deep in the Blackwood Fens. Despite their strength though, the forces of light find the Temple defended by a deepness of evil that cannot be banished or destroyed and so are forced to seal and ward the great temple and the insane depravity that it contains. Still, victory is theirs and the war is over. Attention returns to recovery and healing, and the securing of the Republic. *In reward for their actions, the Silver Circle are given knighthoods of Greyhawk and and non taxed estates within Greyhawk. *The Silver Circle start the construction of Silver Keep, outside the township of Faehollow in the North Holdings '6542 AN' 'The Landorian Empire ' *The Landorian Civil War ends with the formation of the Landorian Commonwealth and the establishment of the House of Solmon. 'The Landorian Commonwealth' *The Landorian Commonwealth is established. '6547 AN' 'The Kingdom of Greyhawk' *The Navigator's Guild dispatches a company north into the West Holdings, with the stated mission to deliver a package to Theyne Stephan Markos, the Aldor to the township of Quarry. Even before they arrive though, they are betrayed and the package stolen by their 'friend' Lily Montroc (later identified as the infamous criminal, 'The Black Swan'). *The cult known as The Inheritors are discovered in the town of Quarry by the Navigators, eventually being traced back to the 'Caves of Chaos'. Here, a safehold is discovered and a plan to attack the town with fungus infected spore zombies is thwarted. It is also here that it is discovered that the Inheritors are allied with what seems a remnant of the Elemental cultists that plagued the Holdings 15 years ago. *Now naming themselves 'Beric's Brigade', after their comrade that fell to a troll in the Caves, the Navigators seek an audience with the Aldor Markos and are tasked with investing an apparent outpost of the Elementalists that evidence was discovered of in the caves. The information at hand points to a ruined moathouse a little distance from the infamous settlement of Nulb, a cesspit that once served as a stronghold of the Order. *While at the caves, the elven priestess Gwendolyne falls to the cultists and the Brigade witness the arrival of Lily Montroc, riding the infamous black dragon of the Blackwood Fens, Bylefire. *The main inn of Quarry, 'The Buried Stoat', is destroyed in a brazen attack as a suicide cultist detonates some kind of bomb. Over twenty are killed, including the Shiran priest Brother Girard, a member of Beric's Brigade, and the inn itself is raized. *After mourning their loss, the Brigade set about tackling the moathouse, destroying the nest of Fire Temple cultists there and slaying the high priest Lareth. During their exploration, the Brigade uncover solid evidence of the revived Order of Elemental Power and their building of an army deep within the Fens. The threat that it poses to the Holdings is clear. *With the threat conirmed, Aldor Markos summons what allies and friends that can be reached in time to build an army in order to meet the revived Elemental Order on the fields of Emridy Heath, as they did before. *Beric's Brigade are dispatched on a mission to strike the Order at it's heart by infiltrating the grand temple, with the knowledge that without the destruction of the imprisoned demoness Zuggtmoy all was lost. With her infernal essence being siphoned to create corrupted elemental war machines, victory would not be possible. *Beric's Brigade is lost. Reports tell of them reaching and entering the temple, but what happened within it's underhalls... None are sure. All are assumed dead. *The arch devil Asmodeus breaks through into Eth, seemingly utilising a Hellgate within the temple itself. This new threat swiftly usurps the temple complex from the cultists, including the infernal siphon to Zuggtmoy to further increase it's power, and forces the followers of the Order to serve it, or be slaughtered. Seizing control of the armies of the Order, the Incursion is announced and war on the townships of the Holdings declared. *Aldor Markos, leading what forces of the Republic and their friends that can be summoned in time, meet the full strength elemental forces, now bolstered by the devils of Asmodeus, and the black dragon Bylefire, on Emridy Heath. The result is a slaughter as the allies of light are massacred. The north falls. *The Free City of Greyhawk seals the Hope Pass, lacking the strength to meet the Incursion on the field. '6554 AN' *The current year. 'The Kingdom of Greyhawk' *Still recovering from it’s civil war, Greyhawk is now facing a new threat that is is unprepared for... In it’s northern lost holdings, a devil of Evix, named Asmodeus, has risen and even now attracts servants and darkness to it’s cause. Facing the threat alone, the Free City of Greyhawk calls for aid, but it has yet to come. 'The Landorian Commonwealth' 'Pharad' *The Sun's Edge, an Isrian merchant dhow, is destroyed by the dragon turtle Celishberule, shipwrecking a small handful of it's crew on the lost island of Cynedica. Beset by a Spore Storm and attacked by vegepygmies, the survivors are forced to take shelter in the Pyramid of Zenobia. Finding it occupied by the now albino descendents of the once prosperous island state, the group is forced to form alliances and delve deeper just to survive. They also discover that the Tome of lies below them in a subterranean city ruled by an apparent Ascendent of Evix, Zargon.